


Blood and Chocolate

by Eriyum



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Italian Mafia, M/M, Soulmates, Vampire Hunters, Vampire Tsuna, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-02-22 22:14:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23434543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eriyum/pseuds/Eriyum
Summary: Nana hadn't told Tsuna much about his human father, but that was okay, Tsuna had never asked. However, when Vongola is in need of an heir, Iemitsu starts seeking Tsuna out instead. He finds him in Namimori, and Tsuna's life is turned on its head. Life was hard enough when all he had to worry about was blood and chocolate!
Relationships: Reborn/Sawada Tsunayoshi
Comments: 32
Kudos: 221





	1. Welcome to Namimori

Disclaimer: I own nothing, nor do I receive profit for this work.

Chapter 1: Welcome to Namimori 

I sighed as I finally finished unpacking the last of the storage boxes labelled "Tsuna's Room". Mama and I had arrived at Namimori in the early morning and it was already getting close to dusk. It had been a productive but mentally tiring day. All the boxes belonging to the kitchen and our bedrooms were unpacked, and the furniture had been arranged in the living room. The only boxes left were miscellaneous odds and ends or belonged to the bathroom. Mama would probably take care of that, she enjoyed decorating. 

Moving was such a hassle, but being a vampire makes it hard to settle down in one place for too long, so it couldn’t be helped. We were getting pretty efficient at it too, it used to take us a lot longer to get everything in order. I collapsed all the empty boxes and carried them in a pile down the stairs. We always stored the boxes after a move. It was handy to have them around and ready for the next time. The boxes were not heavy by any means, but they were awkward to carry down the narrow stairway. I blame them for my lack of balance. 

"Heeiii!" I screeched as I tumbled down the steps, boxes flying in every direction as I hit the ground. I moaned in pain and frustration at the bottom. Mama poked her head around the corner and sighed.

"Honestly Tsu-chan, you need to be more careful." She said with fond exasperation. It was unusual, to put things lightly, for a vampire to be as clumsy as I was. Even so for a half-blood like me. I'm just lucky like that, I guess.

"I'm okay!" I said as I peeled myself off the floor and started picking up the boxes. I may not be very graceful, but I still had the pain tolerance and the constitution of a vampire. It would take more than that to keep me down. 

"Gather up the rest of the boxes please Tsu-chan. There is a storage closet in the laundry room, just lean them up against the back wall. It should be wide enough.” Said Mama. "I'm heading out to the store for a couple things, and if you have all the boxes put away, I just might have some chocolate cake with me when I get back. Who knows?" she said with a smile. I perked up instantly.

"Yes, mama!" I exclaimed happily and began the task of collapsing and collecting boxes from around the house. Mama laughed as she left, locking the door behind her. Honestly, I was so glad she was buying chocolate cake. It had been a while since either of us fed so she must have been feeling the thirst too, but chocolate should tide us over for now. Being a half-blood, I didn't need to feed nearly as often as my mom, but the cravings were still a part of my life. There was something about chocolate, and sugar to a lesser degree, that provided similar nutrients to blood that took the edge off the thirst. I still need to eat human food too, since I’m half human. Mama doesn't need to, but she will eat it for appearances sake, especially if it is spicy. Ah~ all this thinking about food was really making me hungry. I hurried to finish my task. I hadn't really thought about it before, but this house was rather large for just two people. I wondered why mama chose it. It was a short while later that mama returned, and I could smell the cake she brought with her.

"I'm home!" she called.

"Welcome back!" I greeted her. "How was your walk?" I asked her. She brought the cake to the table while I grabbed a couple plates.

"It was very nice! I met someone while I was walking. He stopped me on the street to welcome me to Namimori. Small towns are amazing, everyone really does know everyone here!" Said Nana. I paused and looked at her with a questioning expression while serving us each a slice of cake.

"He stopped you on the street?" I asked and passed Mama her slice. I sat down and greedily ate my first bite of cake. The relief from the dull burning in my throat was almost instant. Thank you to whoever is responsible for the creation of chocolate.

"Mhm. He said he could spot a new face in Namimori from a mile away. He runs a sushi bar not far from here. We should go try it out some time. He also mentioned that he has a son the same age as you in Namimori Middle." She said happily. "Wouldn't that be nice to make a friend before school even started?" she asked. I nodded my head and averted my gaze. To be honest, having a friend would be nice, but we have moved around so often my whole life that I never really learned how to make friends. Talking to other people my age was hard. When I was younger I had trouble making friends because I would ask if I could bite my playmates, but that is neither here nor there. At least I asked.

"I was thinking of going for a walk around town tomorrow anyways, maybe I'll stop by and introduce myself." I said. Mama smiled at me around the fork in her mouth. 

"That is a good plan. I might have a few errands for you to run as well." Mama said. We continued to chat about trivial things as we enjoyed our cake. It was a good day and a good start to our lives in Namimori. If only the rest of our days could be this peaceful.

When morning came, I was feeling conflicted about visiting the sushi joint. I liked the idea of meeting someone new in this town before school started, but anxiety curled around my heart when I thought about walking up to the building. I knew I was being silly, but sometimes I couldn’t help it.

"Tsu-chan! Are you dressed yet?" Mama called from downstairs.

"Hai, Mama! I'll be right down!" I called and started actually getting dressed. Right, she had to leave for work soon, I better see her off for her first day.

"Do hurry, Tsu-chan! There is someone here to see you!" she called up, her voice sounding incredibly chipper.

"Eh?" I said to myself. There was no way it could be the kid she was talking about last night, right? Then again, who else could it be? We hadn’t met anyone else around here yet.   
I got up from my bed and grabbed T-shirt from my closet and pulled it on as I descended down the stairs. Rushing at a downwards angle while distracted has never been my strong suit, and as I reached the bottom step, I missed it entirely. I tumbled violently forward into the entryway. I tried to regain my balance but I failed. The young man standing in our doorway looked mildly shocked while Mama just looked exasperated. This was a near daily occurrence, you would think she would stop reacting at all by now. 

"Honestly, Tsu-chan." She sighed. I picked myself up and rubbed the back of my head sheepishly.

"A-ah. Sorry about that." I mumbled. The boy in the doorway laughed cheerfully in response.

"Haha! You're really energetic in the morning, huh?" he said with a smile. "I'm Yamamoto, Takeshi. Dad said you had just moved into town and sent me over with some food, and to see if you need any help! He also said we would be going to school together Hikawa-san!" he explained. As he spoke, I couldn't help but inspect him, it was a vampire’s instinct to dissect new people.  
He was tall and slim, but not lanky. The muscles in his exposed arms and legs showed that he lived an active lifestyle, but he wasn't bulky either. Fast. His face was angular, and his smile was guarded. It didn’t reach his eyes. Disingenuous. His eyes were brown, and rather expressive, but sharp. Observant. His scent was light and pleasant. It was like dew on grass in the morning, but it held a bitter spice below the surface. Unhappy. Yet, there was nothing to signal ill intent. Not a threat. Since he was here with food and trying to be friendly, despite his possible depression, he was probably a kind person. 

"Ara? How sweet! Here, I'll take that and put it in the fridge. Thank your dad for me will you?" she said to Yamamoto-san, who assured her she would. Her voice snapped me out of my thoughts. It had only taken a second to notice and process these details. A defense mechanism, mama calls it, to determine friend from foe and prey from predator. 

"U-uhm, it's nice to meet you. I'm Hikawa, Tsunayoshi." I said as Mama walked away. I was feeling awkward already. Partly because I had just picked this nice guy apart, and he had no idea, and partly because I didn’t know what to say in this situation.

"Ah! Do you mind if I call you Tsuna-san then?" he said throwing a hand behind his head. This guy… was so laid back.

"Eh? Uh, yes, I mean no! I don't mind." I finished lamely. Yamamoto chuckled.

"Great!" he chirped. Mama walked back into the entryway, purse in hand.

"Alright Tsu-chan, I have to go now. I left a list on the fridge and money on the counter, please head down to the store today, okay?" she said as she slipped on her shoes.

"Of course, is there anything else?" I asked. She ruffled my hair and kissed the top of my head.

"No, that's everything. Go out, have fun!" she said, she turned to Yamamoto, "It was nice to meet you, Yamamoto-san. Thank you for brining the food over." She said.

"It was no trouble at all! Dad was happy to make it. Ah, if you're heading to the store Tsuna-san I can show you the way." Yamamoto offered. Mama's smile broadened.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea! Make sure to lock up when you leave!" said Mama. She moved towards the door and Yamamoto stepped into the house out of her way.

"Hai! Have a good day, Mama." I said, and she left with one last smile. Yamamoto-san was still smiling, waiting for me to say something.

"Thanks for offering, but are you sure you want to?” I asked. Yamamoto-san waved me off. 

“It’s fine! I don’t have anything better to do right now, and Namimori is bigger than it looks. You might get lost if you don’t know your way around.” He said. I nodded my head. 

“Okay, thank you. I'll just go grab the list, and then we can leave." I said to him.

"Sure thing! I'll just wait here!" he said. This guy was so friendly! It was kind of reassuring though; I think I could get along with a guy like him. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed the list off the counter and pocketed the money. This was actually kind of a long list. Oh well. I grabbed my keys and walked back to the entrance and slipped my shoes on. "I'm good to go." I said and offered him a small smile.

"Haha! Okay! There's a few stores that are not too far from here. What do you need to buy?" he asked as we walked outside. I locked the door behind us and pulled out the list. 

"Cleaning supplies mostly, a few groceries. Oh! And chocolate!" I said happily as I spied my favorite word at the bottom of the list. Yamamoto laughed again and started walking down the street. I quickly followed after him. 

"Buying treats on the first day huh? Your mom seems really nice!" enthused Yamamoto-san.

"Yeah, mama is the best." I confirmed.

"You two seem really close." He said kindly. I blinked up at him and smiled.

"Do we? I'm glad. It's always just been mama and I. It's pretty rare that we don't get along." I said. Yamamoto's eyebrows raised slightly; it might have been one of the first times I had seen him without a smile today.

"Always? What about your father?" he asked, and then trailed off as though he regretted asking.

"A-ah. I'm not sure." I said honestly, the anxiety creeping back into my chest. I wasn’t sure if I was comfortable talking about this with him, but I didn’t want to be rude either. Would he be upset if I didn’t answer?

"Oh. I’m sorry. I shouldn't have asked such an insensitive question." He said, his face looking uncomfortable and voice laced with regret. It wasn't really a look that suited him, and made Tsuna want to comfort him. 

"No! No. I'ts fine! It’s just not something mama likes to talk about. I think he is, well, you know, but I’ve never pushed her to answer. It doesn’t matter anyways, mama has always been enough for me.” I said. Yamamoto nodded his head and looked contemplative. The bitter spice in his scent was growing stronger as we walked in silence. I wonder if maybe his own mother was out of the picture, but I decided not to ask.

"S-so, have you always lived in Namimori?" I asked, trying to change the topic. Yamamoto lifted his head, perhaps a little startled by the question. He must have been really lost in thought.

"You bet!" he said with another sunny, but noticeably more forced smile. A-ah… that wasn't really a good sign. I must have really upset him by talking about my mom so highly, and then talking about my dad, especially if his mom wasn't around. I was hoping our first meeting would go a little better than this. I was really bad at making friends. 

"Oh. That's great. U-uhm… what's it like? Living here, I mean." I asked. I wanted to slap my forehead; it was obviously what I meant. I didn’t need to explain it.

"Haha! You're an adorable kind of guy, you know that Tsuna-san?" Yamamoto said with a laugh.

"Hiiieee!?" I croaked. Adorable!? This guy was straight up blunt! He laughed again at my expense as I blushed in embarrassment. How was I supposed to take that? What was I supposed to say to that?

"Hmm, let's see. Living here is nice, I suppose! The baseball team is really good! We have decent equipment, and I pretty much practice all the time! Coach says we are a shoo-in for finals this year, so I have to work extra hard!" he said, very enthused. The bitter spice had nearly cleared away, replaced with something sweeter – tangy like an orange but still mild. Ah, his scent was very appealing like this. I could feel my throat beginning to dry up, perhaps I'd buy the chocolate first.

"What about you, Tsuna-san?" he asked. I blinked up at him.

"E-eh? Pardon?" I asked.

"Do you play any sports?" he repeated.

"O-oh! No. I'm, uh, rather clumsy, actually. Haha.” I said, my laugh without humor, “Also, we move around a lot for Mama's work, so I've never been able to join any clubs." I said.

"Ah, that's too bad! I'm sure there's a sport out there for you, you just gotta figure out what it is! What do you do for fun then?" he asked.

"U-uhm, well I like video games I suppose, but I really enjoy making new scents." I said. Yamamoto gave me a confused look.

"Scents?" he asked. I nodded my head.

"I like finding things that smell nice and mixing them together to make new scents, I, uh, I want to learn how to make perfume one day. Right now, I usually make candles or soaps and bath salts for my mom." I quickly explained.

"Oh, I see now! That's really cool!" he said with a laugh. It was? "Well, there is an arcade in town, I haven't gone in a while! We should go some time!" he said.

"Really? I mean, yeah! That sounds fun." I said with a wide smile. I was extremely happy that Yamamoto still wanted to hang out with me. I had been worried he wouldn't want to a little earlier.

"Sparkles?" muttered Yamamoto.

"E-eh?" I said, confused. He shook his head with an odd look on his face.

"Ah, nothing, nothing! Just the light. Anyways, the store is just a couple doors up!" he said happily. And so it was. The door slid open automatically as we walked up to it. It was a rather large for a convenience store. It had basic groceries, home supplies, and even small bread and vegetable sections.

"Wow, neat." I said to myself as I looked around. Not bad for a small town.

"You should be able to find most things here, it's a really popular store for errands like this. I go here for sports drinks and snacks all the time, or when my dad asks me to pick something up." He said.

"I can see why. Ah, there it is." I said as I spied the shelves holding an assortment of chocolate. Ahh, so many choices, but only so much money. What should I choose?

"Haha! You really like chocolate huh? It's a wonder that you're so small!" Chuckled Yamamoto. I flushed a little in embarrassment.

"A-ah, it runs in the family." I said.

"Your mom likes it too?" he asked. I nodded.

"Mhm! Probably more than I do." I said. Yamamoto looked impressed.

"Well, if you aren't allergic to hazelnut you should try this one!" he said and handed me a bar. It looked delicious. 

"Sure! I will. Would you like one too?" I asked with a smile.

“No thanks, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. When I do, I go for that bar though.” He said, gesturing to the hazelnut bar. I grabbed a dark chocolate bar off the shelf for mama and pulled out the list. 

"Okay, if you’re sure. Hmm, I should probably grab as basket." I said. Yamamoto lifted his arm.

"I actually already grabbed one!" he said with a smile.

"Eh!? Thank you!" I said. I hadn’t even noticed! He smiled and nodded his head towards the basket. "O-oh, I can carry it, Yamamoto-san." I said. He waved his hand.

"No need. I've got it!" he said. I thanked him again and put the bars in the basket. "What's next on the list?" he asked.

"Uhm… garbage bags." I said.

"Oh! Those are down this aisle!" he said. Shopping with Yamamoto-san turned out to be a lot fun, and aside from nocking a couple bottles of fabric spray off the shelf I didn't have any clumsy moments. That might have been because he grabbed all the things on the high shelves after that.

I paid for our purchases and walked out of the shop. It took five bags to pack all of the things I bought, so I was really grateful when Yamamoto offered to help me carry them home.

"Ah, this isn't too far out of your way is it?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Not at all! Pops and I live above the restaurant which isn't very far from your house!" he said.

"Eh? That's pretty neat! Do you work there too?" I asked.

"I help out there sometimes, but not as an official employee. It's more for allowance money really." He said. I thought it was sweet to help out his dad like that, but I didn’t say it. It did confirm that his mother was out of the picture, for whatever reason, and made me kind of sad for him.

"That's really cool." I said and offered him a kind smile. He didn't say anything, but his scent prickled with something sweet, so I knew he appreciated the compliment. The rest of the walk home was filled with idle chatter and lots of laughs. I was really glad I had met Yamamoto today, he turned out to be a really cool guy. The only problem would be the amount of chocolate I would be eating until I got used to his scent. Then again, when was copious amounts of chocolate ever a problem?


	2. Sleeping Dogs

Chapter 2: Sleeping Dogs

The first week in town had gone by quickly. When I wasn’t at home with my mother, I spent most of my time with Yamamoto-san. We wandered around town, played in the arcade, and I watched him practice baseball. He tried playing with me a few times, but I ended up getting hit by the ball more times than I missed it. I hit it once, but I tripped on my way to first base. We decided it would be best if I just cheered him on after that. He even showed me how to get to school so I wouldn't get lost walking there on the first day, which was tomorrow morning. I was spending my last summer evening at a café with mama. This place had the best chocolate cake around, and we should know- her and I had tried quiet a few different places over the week.

"So Tsu-chan, how do you like Namimori so far?" Nana asked between bites of cake.

"I like it so far. Yamamoto-san had been very kind, and it is one of the largest places we have lived in a while. Also," I said lowering my voice, "I haven't seen any signs of that church here at all. Not a single sentinel. It's almost too good to be true." I said. Mama nodded her head in agreement and hummed around her fork.

"Ah, neither have I. It's always been like that here." She said, which caught my attention.

"Always? How do you know that?" I asked. Mama looked off to the side for a moment before she answered.

"Did you know that I used to live here, once upon a time?" she said. My eyebrows rose in genuine surprise.

"Eh!? Really? I had no idea." I said. We had never live in the same place twice, and rarely did we settle down in a town mama had lived in before I was born. If we did, it was a place she had lived in long before I came around. 

"Mhm. I moved here not long before you were born, actually." She said. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling apprehensive. Was it even safe for us to be living here again? So soon, no less?

"How long did you live here?" I asked.

"For ten years." She said. My eyes widened and I was lucky I didn't swallow my fork.

"Ten years? That long and you never ran into the church?" I asked in disbelief. Mama nodded her head. "Why did you leave?" I asked her, not understanding. Mama took a bite of her cake, and I noticed her scent changing. The usual cinnamon and brown sugar that always followed her around becoming tinged with an acidic undertone. Regret. "Mama?" I asked quietly. She looked at me for a moment and sighed.

"I ran into something else instead." She said. A musty, dust like smell accompanied the acid.

"Mama, is this about him? About my father?" I asked. Mama only nodded her head, and I could see the tears building up in her eyes. I reach my hand across the table and gripped her own. "You don't have to tell me now." I said. Mama reached out and cupped the side of my face.

"You're getting older now and it's time I told you a few things. I just need more time, but I promise I won't keep you in the dark forever. I promise. Okay?" she said. I wanted to push her for answers, I had so many questions. Who was my father? Was he alive? Did he even know I exist? Could I meet him? Instead, I nodded my head.

"Okay. I can wait." I said.. She gave me a watery smile.

"Alright, thank you Tsu-chan. I love you." She said. I smiled fondly back at her. I know there are a lot of things Mama hasn't told me about her life, but she always does her best to take care of me on her own. It's enough. "What do you say we get this packed up and head home?" she asked, and I agreed. Mama tipped the waiter and paid the bill. We left with our take-home boxes in hand. 

"How long do you think we will stay here?" I asked as we were walking home.

"For a little while." She said vaguely. My shoulders drooped a little.

"Oh. I thought with the church not being here, maybe we could stay a little longer." I said, hopefully. It would be nice to spend a while living in a city that was so much a part of my mother's past, and maybe even my own. Plus, Yamamoto-san was becoming a fast friend, it was a little overwhelming for me but I liked it. I really, really liked having a friend. Mama reached over and ruffled my head.

"I know Tsu-chan, I know. I'll think about it, okay?" she said. I nodded my head.

"Okay, mama." I said.

And that was that.

A well-dressed gentleman sat at the head of a large conference table. He nodded his head in greeting to his similarly dressed blonde-haired visitor.

"Iemitsu, thank you for joining me. Please take a seat." He said. Iemitsu gave a small, respectful bow and took a seat across the table from the elderly man.

"Of course, Nono. I always enjoy a chance to meet with you, but I get the feeling today's meeting is not a social call. What can I do for you, old friend?" he asked.

"Let me begin by saying, that for the sake of the Vongola, the information I am about to tell you must not leave this room." He said. Iemitsu straightened in his chair, eyes becoming focused and hard.

"Of course, sir." He replied, his tone all business. Nono closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

"Federico is dead." He said. Iemitsu posture became slack, and his eyes widened. His mind split in two directions, wanting to console his boss for the loss of yet another son and also worrying about the future. 

"Nono, Timoteo. I am so sorry for your loss." He said, voice somber. Nono nodded his head once in thanks and held up one hand to wave him off.

"We held a quiet funeral a week ago. The time to mourn has past for me, now I must turn to the future." He said. Iemitsu nodded and slumped back in his chair. Yes, the future was looking a little unsure. The death of Timoteo's last two sons had already blown a big hole in Vongola's reputation and caused worry for the security of the family. The next in the line of succession was Xanxus, and his ruthless reputation preceded him. With the exception of the Varia, his claim to the title of Decimo would be greatly opposed. If the wrong people found out that their greatest fears had come to pass, Vongola would find itself without much of its current support and influence. They could be facing rebellion amongst its members.

"Yes, the future. If I may speak plainly Nono?" he asked.

"You may." He said.

"There is no denying that Xanxus is a strong individual, and he seems to hold the respect of the Varia, but he is not yet ready to lead the family. He allows his subordinates to run wild on and off missions,   
how they are so efficient at assassinations I may never understand. He needs to learn self-control. I suggest we bring in Reborn." Said Iemitsu. Timoteo closed his eyes again with a frown, he folded his hands together and placed them on the table.

"No." he said. Voice stone cold, no room for argument.

"Nono, I don't understand." Replied Iemitsu, but Timoteo cut him off with a sharp look.

"Xanxus is not my son." He said.

Not my son  
Not a candidate.   
The world shifted. Iemitsu said nothing.

"You see now why none of this must leave this room, yes?" asked Nono.

"Yes." Replied Iemitsu, voice quiet and grave.

"Good. As of right now, Vongola is without an heir. I can think of only one solution." He said. Iemitsu looked at the man, what solution could there possibly be?

"My position as the head of CDEF prevents me…" he began, but Nono cut him off again.

"Yes, I am aware. No, I was thinking of your son." He said. Iemitsu's hand's clenched in his lap.

"Sir." He said.

"I know you searched for him for a very long time before you let him go, but I must believe he is still alive. I am prepared to pool all of our resources into finding him. Every connection, every free body, every favour I need to pull to find your son. He is the last direct descendant of Primo's bloodline. Find your son Iemitsu, bring him home, and turn him into the boss he is meant to be." He said, his tone final.

The blonde man strode out of the mansion, face hard, shoulders tight, footsteps heavy, and thoughts dark. But hope, a tiny flame of it, burned in his chest so brightly.


	3. Y = Why Me!?

I lazily rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and looked over at my alarm clock, the numbers 7:55 glaring back at me. Ah, I'd woken up early for a Sunday, and on my last day of holidays too. I turned over and let my eyes fall shut again, a few more hours wouldn't hurt.

My eyes shot open and I fell out of bed in a panic, today was not Sunday. I repeat; today was not Sunday.

"Hiiieeee! I'm so late!" I yelled as I rushed to get ready. Sniffing the air, I was relieved to find out that mama had already left for work. That meant I could use super-speed to get ready inside the house. Using any of my obvious vampire abilities was all but prohibited by mama, and for good reason too, but I was about to be late for my first day of school! I'm sure she would understand. I was washed, dressed, packed, and ready to go in less than five minutes. The only thing I couldn't fix was my wet hair, all I could do was towel dry it an hope for the best. It was going to be a fluffy disaster all day.

I slipped on my shoes and walked out the door, to my surprise Yamamoto-san was just stepping into my walkway. He smiled and waved as he saw me.

"Yo, Tsuna-san! Good morning! Aha, I thought I might have missed you already." he said happily. I froze, staring at his care free posture and happy go lucky attitude. We were going to be late. On our first day. The audacity! 

I whirled around and locked my door then dashed down the walkway. I grabbed Yamamoto as I went and pulled him after me. I missed the startled look on his face, but I noticed the shot of sea-salt dance briefly through his scent. It was probably a bad thing that I thought adrenaline smelled good with his natural scent. Haha, what a stereotypical vampire conversation that would be, 'Your fear smells good' I mocked in my mind. Funny, but so not the point right now.

"Sorry Yamamoto-san, but we are going to be late if we don't get a move on!" I said in apology. Yamamoto recovered quickly and laughed as he ran beside me.

"Wow you're really energized this morning, too!" he said. I chose not to comment. Yamamoto was a pretty good runner, I wasn't pushing anywhere near my top speed, but I was moving at a quick pace for a human. Still, he had no trouble keeping up. I made sure to slow down a little the longer we ran until Yamamoto was eventually in front of me. If we kept this speed we would probably be on time. I hoped. Mama was going to murder me.

At some point during our mad dash we started catching up with other students, and passing groups of stragglers. Apparently, that drew attention. 

"YOSH! KYOKO-CHAN, THOSE TWO ARE EXTREMELY RUNNING TO SCHOOL! WE SHOULD JOIN THEM IN THEIR EXTREME ENTHUSIASM!" was shouted loudly from behind us. I was so startled I nearly tripped but managed to regain my footing after stumbling. I looked behind me to see who had been shouting and saw a tall, bulky guy with white hair running after us with a short, cute girl trying to keep up behind him. Even as far away as we were, I could single out this guys scent with no problem. He smelled exactly like rosemary, and right now he was exuding a not so subtle floral undertone. It was odd, since I hadn't even met him, but I thought the loud energetic scent suited him. Still…. This guy was coming right for us, and fast, so despite all the nice things I had just thought about him, I was panicking.

"Heeeiii! Yamamoto-san pick up the pace!" I shouted as I surpassed him. If you are going to judge me for this, please do so quietly. I thought I was going to get flattened. The guy was built like a tank!

On the plus side, we made it to school on time, but as we passed through the gates we nearly crashed into a senior that was leaning against the entrance. I swear the boy growled at us as we passed.

"Sorry!" I called back behind us.

"I'll bite you to de-!" I heard the boy say, only to be cut off as the burly guy from before rushed passed him.

"EXTREME APPOLOGIES!" he shouted as he ran. This time I definitely heard the him say 'I'll bite you to death.'As a half-vampire, I wasn't sure how to feel about that. As a half-human, I was pretty freaking worried.

"Haha, this is going to be an interesting year!" an out of breath Yamamoto said as he ran beside me. I huffed out a laugh, remembering to sound tired too when I responded.

"Oh man, I hope not." I said, but even as I said it, I knew it wasn’t meant to be.

If I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes, I never would have believed it. The senior, who turned out to be the head of the disciplinary comity, had actually bitten that giant student to death. With tonfas. Shiny, metal, break-your-bones-worthy, tonfas. WHAT THE HECK KIND OF SCHOOL WAS THIS!? To top it all off I heard some the of other comity members asking around about the "bunny" that had bumped into their leader that morning. That demon student had it out for me. I silently sulked as I ate my lunch next to Yamamoto.

"Don't worry about it too much Tsuna-san! Hibari-san wouldn't have bitten Sasagawa-sempai so hard if he hadn't tried to fight back." Yamamoto laughed, assumedly trying to comfort me.

"What should I do then? Roll over and play dead!?" I asked, then paused. "Actually, would that work?" I wondered.

"Ahaha, who knows?" Yamamoto said cheerfully as he ate his lunch. Hopefully I wouldn't have to find out. I had been successful in hiding from him all day. When he had caught the giant, also known as Sasagawa-sempai, I had gotten a whiff of the demon student. Oddly enough he smelled like sakura blossoms, which didn't really suit his scary personality. At all. Nevertheless, it had helped me avoid him in the halls. All I had to do was make it to the end of the day, he would probably have forgotten about me by tomorrow morning. Though, I had originally hoped he would let it go by lunch time.

"What are you going to do after classes today Yamamoto-san?" I asked. He tilted his head to the side.

"Ahh, I hadn't really thought about it. Pops wants some help at the shop after school, but I'm free once the supper rush is over. What about you?" he asked.

"I was thinking of exploring the town a bit more, mom said there is a nice park not too far from our house. It would be nice if I could learn more about my neighbourhood and stop getting lost all the time." I chuckled. Directions had never been my strong suit. Then again, had anything?

"It's true, I'd probably worry less if you didn't get lost so easily. Why don't you wait until I'm done work and then I'll go with you?" he suggested and I happily agreed. I hadn't spent this much of my free time with one person, well, ever. It was nice to have a friend. We had only known each other a couple weeks but Yamamoto-san had really grown on me. It was probably his easy-going nature and calming presence. It didn't hurt that he smelled nice too. Speaking of… I pulled out a chocolate bar from my backpack and broke a piece off. "You really do like chocolate, Tsuna-san." he remarked. I nodded my head.

"Would you like some?" I asked and held the bar out to him.

"Hmm, sure. I don't think I've ever eaten dark chocolate before, what does it taste like?" he asked as he broke off a chunk. I looked at him with alarm,

"You've never had dark chocolate?" I asked. 

"Ahaha, is that so strange?" he said. I nodded my head enthusiastically.

"Yes, dark chocolate is amazing! It isn't as sweet as milk chocolate, but the flavour is much richer. I think you get to enjoy it longer." I said and popped a piece into my mouth. I let the treat melt on my tongue before swallowing. Dark chocolate was really soothing for my throat and the effects lasted longer. Yamamoto watched me for a second and then followed my example. I could see him contemplating the taste as he rolled the melting chocolate around in his mouth.

"It's different, but I kind of like it. I think I like milk chocolate more though." He said. I shrugged my shoulders, but I was pleased that he liked it.

"I like all chocolate, t-though I guess white chocolate doesn't really do much for me." I said. We chatted aimlessly for a few more minutes until the lunch bell finally rang and signalled the end of lunch.

"We better get back to class." I sighed. Yamamoto hopped up and packed his stuff away. I slowly followed suit, I wasn't enthusiastic about returning to class at all, our next period was math. I hated math. I couldn't do it to save my life. As we walked back into the classroom one student with light brown hair caught my eye.

"Hey, isn't that the girl we saw this morning?" I asked Yamamoto. He looked in the direction I had motioned to.

"Eh? Which girl?" he asked.

"Her, the one with the light brown hair. She was walking beside that loud guy, uh, Sasagawa-sempai this morning before he started chasing us." I explained. Yamamoto's face lit up in recognition.

"Oh! Yeah, that is Sasagawa, Kyoko. She is his little sister." He explained. I nodded my head, so that was her name. She was chatting animatedly with a dark haired girl who looked bored out of her mind. "Why do you ask?" inquired Yamamoto-san.

"Oh, I was just thinking that I should probably apologise for getting her brother beat up. I bumped into that demon student first, after all." I said, silently sending another prayer to the gods so that I may not ever bump into that student again.

"Ehh? I guess you could, but he is a part of the boxing club and fights all the time. I'm sure it isn't the first time he has tangled with Hibari-sempai." Yamamoto explained.

"A-ah… is that so?" I said, then laughed nervously. Maybe I should avoid him too. "Still, I feel bad about what happened. I should probably apologize to him too." I mused. Yamamoto set his books on his desk, which was right next to mine, and sat down.

"Why don't you talk to her after class then?" suggested Yamamoto. I nodded my head, but inside I was freaking out a little. I’ve always had trouble talking to pretty girls. The only one exception was my mom. I sat down in my desk and pulled out my books. Oh well, I couldn't just leave things how they were. I would just have to talk to her and hope I didn't make a fool of myself.

The teacher walked into our classroom, Nezu-sensei the time-table had said. He had long hair tied back in a low ponytail, large glasses that sat near the end of his crooked nose, and an eyebrow with a constant twitch in the outer corner. There was a chance that this man wasn't as cranky as he looked, but his scent of black-pepper wasn't giving me much hope.

"Settle down, settle down. Today we will start with a review of the basics. Starting with algebra, you can turn your textbooks to review section one – page 32." He said. I flipped my textbook open the right page. Oh man, no introduction or anything! He just got straight into the work. I was dreading the rest of this class already. "Alright, now who can tell me the answer to question number one?" he asked. I twitched in alarm. What kind of review was this? He didn't explain anything, just jumped right into asking questions! Of course, no one raised their hand to volunteer an answer, I think we were all a little disoriented. "No, volunteer huh? Well then, how about you, new kid?" he asked pointing at me. I paled. No way, this was on my list of the top five things I didn't want to have happen on my first day of school. A math question? Gah! Help? "Yes, that's right. You. Now stand up and tell me your name. I didn't bother to read the roster. Then tell me the answer to question number one." He said, sounding annoyed. I pulled my chair back and slowly stood up, I glanced at Yamamoto-san who gave me a thumbs up. Oh god, don't cheer me on, save me!

"A-ah, uuhm… I'm H-Hikawa, Tsunayoshi…" I said nervously. Nezu-sensei frowned.

"Was that a question, or your name?" he asked sharply.

"Eep! My name, sir!" I answered right away. I looked down at my textbook. I had no idea how to answer this question without working through it. There were fractions.

"Well, Hikawa-san? What does y equal?" he demanded. I looked at the question a little longer but I couldn't figure it out.

"I-I, I don't know." I admitted in defeat, shoulders slumping. Nezu-sensei huffed and turned towards the board.

"Figures. Whatever school you went to before didn't teach you proper mathematics. You'll have to catch up quickly if you don't want to fail my class!" he scolded. I gave a quiet 'yes, sir' and slunk back down into my seat. Ahh… I really wanted to go home. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around. The boy behind me leaned forward with a smirk and said,

"Way to go, Dame-Tsuna."


	4. Rinse and Repeat

History has the tendency to repeat itself. Sometimes through grand gestures, and sometimes through old nicknames. Dame-Tsuna had seemingly returned from the dead to haunt me again. Every time mama and I moved away I hoped that damn name would stay behind with the town we had abandoned. It wasn't always "Dame-Tsuna" per say, but there was always some variation of it hanging over my head. This time I had gotten it on the first day of school! I had set a new record for myself. I couldn’t decide if it was a person best, or a personal worst. Yamamoto-san had sent me a curious glance, obviously not able to hear what the boy behind me had said. I resolutely kept my eyes on the board though, I wasn't going to deal with this until the name started circulating around the classroom, as it inevitably would. I was pretty used to nicknames and bullies at this point. It was just one of those things that made you groan and roll your eyes.

The rest of math class had gone by in at a snail’s pace. Once he was done preying on unsuspecting students with math questions, Nezu-sensei had droned on about various formulas for the rest of the period. I’m pretty sure he spoke in Japanese, but he might as well have been speaking Greek. I didn't understand half of what he was talking about. At least the graphs I copied down looked like his, I just had no idea what they meant or how to draw them on my own. I slumped into my desk in relief when the bell finally rang. My back gave a satisfying pop and I relaxed. I had nearly fallen asleep during class, but the fear of what this teacher would do to me had forced my eyes to stay open.

I felt the brain fog melting away as the classroom quickly became noisy again. I decided I should go talk to Sasagawa-san, hopefully she could tell me where to find her brother after school, too. She was seated at her desk, already surrounded by a group of people. My stomach gave a little flip, of course she would end up being the class idol. She was cute, seemed friendly, smart, and did I mention cute? I was going to make a total fool of myself. I turned to Yamamoto for support, but he was already catching up with a couple of other guys, one of them being the boy who had called me 'dame'. I decided I would rather talk to him later.

I left my desk and slowly approached the group of gossiping girls. I think they could smell my fear because they all turned to give me appraising looks at the same time. Some of them didn’t look very satisfied with what they saw. God, there were so many scents. I could feel the judgment rolling off them in waves. One girl stood out in particular. She was seated in her own desk right next to Sasagawa-san. She had long wavy black hair and dark eyes. She was detached from the group of the girls, but she still had a clear line between her and Sasagawa-san. The other girls were steering clear of her, being careful not to crowd her desk. My nose could pick her out of the crowd just as easily as my eyes; she smelled like red wine. It was a dry and bitter smell, but it had the faintest trace of something fruity and feminine. Not my taste, but mama would probably like her. I could tell from her bored expression and confident posture that this is not a girl I wanted to tangle with. Her eyes pinched in a subtle glare and a spicy undertone lanced through her scent, she was getting annoyed with my staring. I quickly turned my eyes towards Sasagawa-san, who had taken notice of me too and offered an awkward smile towards her. She beamed in reply.

"Hello! You are Hikawa-san, right?" she asked. I nodded in response. She really was a cute girl, and now that I was paying more attention it was obvious that the vanilla scent was coming from her.

"A-ah, it's nice to meet you." I replied formally.

"I'm Sasagawa, Kyoko. It's nice to meet you too!" she said cheerfully. I nodded my head again.

"Y-yeah, I know." I said. Sasagawa-san's smile dimmed a little and something minty started threading through her scent, I was making her uncomfortable. The spicy scent from the black haired girl was picking up some heat too. "O-oh, uhm! Not for any weird reason! I just, I wanted to apologise to you for this morning, so I asked about who you were." I said, eager to blurt out the truth and get it over with. Mint vanished and was replaced by a scent that was like dry wood and sharp florals all at the same time – confusion.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean. Did something happen this morning?" she asked. I rubbed the back of my head, I could feel the heat rising up my neck.

"U-un. I was one of the people your brother was chasing this morning. I think I'm the reason he, uh, he got in a fight." I admitted with some difficulty. Understanding dawned on her face, her scent returning to its natural vanilla.

"Oh! No, not at all. Onii-chan is always rough housing with Hibari-sempai. He likes to fight, though I wish he wouldn't do it quite so often or with someone as… intense as Hibari-sempai." She said, something bitter drifting through her sent before flickering out. I shuffled my feet where I stood and wrapped my right hand around my other arm.

"Oh… is that so? I still feel responsible. Do, uhm, do you know where I could find him after school?" I asked. Sasagawa-san tilted her head to the side.

"Hibari-sempai?" she asked. I tensed up and leaned back out of reflex. I probably should apologise for running into him too, but there was just no way! 

"E-eh!? No, no!" I said waving my hands out in front of me as if to stop her from accidentally summoning the man, "Your – your brother!" I corrected.

"Oh, yeah! He will be out petitioning people to join the boxing club after school. You might be able to catch him in the gym before that if you hurry." She said.

"R-right. Thank you. U-uhm, sorry again." I said. Sasagawa-san made to reply again but suddenly the annoyed scent of spice reached a whole new level from the black haired girl. Startled, I looked up at her, even though she hadn't said anything yet. Luckily, this didn't seem to stand out to her too much as she glared at me.

"Oi, Monkey. She said it's fine already. Why don't you go take your seat before class starts." She said. It was posed like a question, but the dismissal was clear.

"Ehh! Right! Right away, I'll do that!" I said and did a prompt 180 turn. I stumbled on the first step as I made a hasty retreat. Who ever said humans should be afraid of vampires was clearly mistaken, it should definitely be the other way around! I slumped down into my desk with a sigh of relief. I turned when Yamamoto-san tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hey, Tsuna-san, this is Asano, Kaito-san and Furukawa, Haruto-san!" He said gesturing to the two boys beside him. It was the same two boys he had been talking to before I went to apologise to Sasagawa-san.

My eyes automatically locked on to the tallest of the two boys and my mind picked him apart. This guy, Asano-san, was the one that had called me Dame-Tsuna. I already had him on my radar as a threat. He was easily 170 cm tall and still growing. His tall body was lean, but the signs of muscle starting to bulk up were unmistakable. From what I could tell through the school pants and his posture, the most muscular parts of his body was his legs. Specifically his calves. Probably a soccer player. Fast, good endurance. I could out-run him, but if I were backed into a corner with him my best bet would be to keep him running and force him to use his arms instead of his legs. I turned my attention to his face. He had ok in his features, but they were twisted by a smirk. Arrogant. Arrogance could lead to mistakes. Brown eyes stared down at me briefly through shaggy black hair before dismissing me entirely. Unobservant, self absorbed. I scented him and found that he smelled something like rosewood, but it was currently saturated by citrus and metallic undertones. This guy didn't like me, and he found himself amusing for coming up with that forsaken nickname. Maybe I should take a bite out of him some time, I thought bitterly. People with woodsy smells often had an earthy flavour to them, like a vegetable from the garden.

His friend, Furukawa-san, was very different from him. He was much shorter, for one, and the best way I could describe the look on his face was spacey. He had short light brown hair and purple eyes. Physically there was nothing threatening about this boy at all. He smelled pleasant too, a mellow scent that was more cinnamon than sandalwood with a fruity undertone weaving lazily through his scent. I had a feeling that this guy was often content like this.

I blinked as my brain shifted gears and I stopped rapidly analyzing them. It had only taken me a couple seconds, but delaying a response any longer would look pretty awkward.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Hikawa, Tsuna." I replied. Furukawa-san offered me a lazy grin and turned back to the book on Yamamoto-san's desk. Asano-san, however, scoffed and tosses his head to get the hair out of his eyes.

"Yeah, we know who you are, Dame-Tsuna." He said, loudly. The sharp scent of citrus rippled through parts of the room. So, it has already begun, huh?

"Ahaha, Kaito-san, that isn't very nice." Said Yamamoto-san good naturedly. Asano-san lifted a placating hand.

"Now, now, it's only some friendly teasing. It's all in good fun." He lied. He said that, but his scent hadn't changed. This guy was going to be trouble for me. Joy of all joys. Furukawa-san picked up his book and stood, and though he moved slowly the action seemed abrupt.

"Class is starting." He said and walked towards his desk. Just then the door to the classroom slid open and our next teacher walked in. Asano-san had a disgruntled look on his face.

"Freaks me out when he does that." He muttered and sat down in the desk behind me. I tensed at having him behind my back. Letting him sit behind me went against my most basic instincts. Then again, as long as we were in class there wasn't much he could do to me, probably.


	5. Real Men

Chapter Five: Real Men  
When classes finally let out, I told Yamamoto-san not to wait for me. I was going to find Sasagawa-sempai. It turned out that he was meeting up with the baseball team after school anyways, so he offered to lead me to the gym. "Eh? The baseball team meets in the gym?" I asked. Yamamoto smiled and shook his head.

"Nah, we are just grabbing our gear from the storage room and moving back to the club house. All of Namimori’s sports equipment is stored in there during the break." He explained.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense. Alrgiht! Please show me the way. Thanks Yamamoto-san!" I said. We chatted more about the baseball club as we walked through the hall. Namimori Middle was a surprisingly large middle school, it was even more impressive considering it wasn't the only middle school in town. Maybe I had underestimated how large this town really was when we first moved in here. Maybe it was more of a small city?

Yamamoto lead me down several halls before the gym’s large double doors. "Here it is!" Yamamoto-san exclaimed. I peered into the gym through the windows in the door and couldn't help feeling impressed. This place was massive! Talk about supporting the education system, Namimori had spared no expense on this gym. There were a lot of students inside already. Many of them were dressed in a variety of sports gear, some of them were in their school gym gear. "Haha, are you going to go in?" laughed Yamamoto-san. I blushed a little.

"O-Of course! I was just surprised by how big it is." I said as I pushed open the door.

"Eh? Is it that surprising? Your old school must have been pretty small." He said. He wasn’t wrong. I had been to a lot of schools but most of them were small, and not all of them had the money to build facilities like this. 

"I guess so…" I muttered. I continued to take in my surroundings as we entered the gym. The first thing that hit me was the scent of stale body odour, it wasn't overpowering, but it was a permanent fixture in the building. It might have been trapped in the pain over time. It was unpleasant and I scrunched a couple times in hopes of relief. Physical education classes should just be held outside, it would make my day easier.

"Oh, I think I see Sasagawa-sempai over there, looks like you didn't miss him after all." Said Yamamoto-san pointing at the group guys off to the side. I paused for a moment when my eyes fell onto the group.

Oh. My. Dracula.

Namimori middle was officially the greatest school on earth! Most of the guys gathered around in the group were wearing nothing but gym shorts and various forms of tape on their hands and legs. A tiny sea of muscular half-naked guys. My throat felt like a desert. "He's the one in the yellow shorts!" said Yamamoto. I nodded my head. "Well, you better catch him before he leaves! I'm going to go meet up with the guys now. See you later Tsuna-san!" he said and left with a cheery wave.

"Yup. Sure." I croaked, not really paying attention. I started walking towards the boxing club willing myself not to blush… or pop some fangs. That would be so embarrassing. One of the guys saw me coming and turned to the group member next to him.

"Hey Kamiyama, who is that kid?" I heard him ask in a hushed voice. The guy with long black hair turned to look at me.

"No idea. First year maybe?" he said.

"Nah, look at his shirt, he's a second year." The first guy replied. Sasagawa-sempai turned to look too.

"Hmm? What kid? OH! It's you to the EXTEREME!" he said shouting and pointing directly at me as I approached the group. I stopped mid stride and I'm ashamed to admit that I 'eeped'. He pushed through the small group and I quickly catalogued him as he approached me. 

I had noticed earlier that morning how large this guy was. He was not only tall, but corded with thick muscle. It made sense that he was a boxer. His shoulders and arms were more defined than his legs, but not by much. Strong, fast. His face was an open, sunny, book. His large grin reached his eyes, and you could see the developing laugh lines. Genuine, optimistic. There was a scar on his face, probably an injury from a past fight, but likely not a boxing match. He seemed to be more braun than brain, but likely not a threat unless provoked. 

When he reached me he clasped his hand over my shoulder. His hand was heavy, but his grip wasn't threatening. "Join the boxing club to the extreme!" he exclaimed while giving me a thumbs up. What a serious 'nice guy' pose!

"Eehh? Me!?" I could help but exclaim. I mean, I was nearly a foot shorter than every other guy here and well… my arms looked like noodles compared to theirs. His group members looked almost as exasperated as I felt confused.

"YOSH! You run extremely fast!" his exclaimed and clapped me on the other shoulder. I’d have stumbled if he wasn’t already holding me steady. 

"B-but! You don't really have to run fast in boxing." I protested.

"You have to be able to dodge and punch super fast though! Like this!" he exclaimed and proceeded to demonstrate with a round of rapid fire punches far too close to my face.

"Hiiiee!" I squealed and backed away. This is not how I imagined meeting my first group of half naked guys would go! So much for that fantasy! "No, no Sasagawa-sempai! You've got it all wrong! I'm not here to join the boxing club!" I exclaimed, my hands raised in surrender. I looked to the rest of the members for support but the looks on their faces clearly said 'not our business, not our problem'.

"Is that so? Well you should extremely consider trying it out anyways! Why not come to our first practice and see if you like it!?" he suggested. This guy was so… nice. Energetic and scary, but in an earnest way. I felt my defenses crumbling a bit.

"I.. uhm… I guess I could…" I replied. Crap. I gave in way to easy. Sasagawa-sempai beamed and clapped me on the back, causing me to stumble forward.

"Extreme! Real men try new things all the time! What's your name, little extreme dude?" he asked.

I rubbed at my shoulder as I straightened up. "Eto… I'm Hikawa, Tsuna." I replied and offered a small bow.

"Yosh! I'm Sasagawa, Ryohei! Just call me Onii-san!" he said. My eyes were wide… wow Rosemary really suited this guy.

"A-ah. Sure. Onii-san." I replied dutifully. I had a feeling it would be better for me if I just went along with it. He grinned again.

"YOSH! NOW I'M FEELING ALL PUMPED UP TO THE EXTREME! I'm going to get a hundred people to join the boxing club today!" he said with a fist pump.

"Oh! Wait, uh, Onii-san! I do need to talk to you!" I said. He turned back and blinked, fist still in the air.

"Huh? Sup, little dude?" He asked. I scowled at the nickname, but it was a far cry better than Dame-Tsuna.

"I wanted to apologise for this morning." I said. He blinked again, dry-wood and sharp florals lacing through his scent. He was just as confused as his sister had been. "E-eto… I bumped into Hibari-sempai first when we were all running to school. I'm pretty sure that's why he tried to fight you." I said.

"HAHA! Hibari-san is an intense guy to the extreme! I wondered why he was so energetic on the first day of school!" he exclaimed.

"Err, yeah. I'm starting to get that impression. Still, I'm sorry I managed to cause you so much trouble on the first day." I said, bowing in appology.

"No problem, little dude! Show up at practice tomorrow and we'll call it even to the extreme! Yosh! I'm off to gather new extreme members!" He shouted and then took off at lightning speed. I was left standing with the rest of the boxing club members.

"Uhm… is he usually… like that?" I couldn't help but ask. The one named Kamiyama looked at me and nodded his head.

"Ah, yeah. Sometimes he's louder. Name's Kamiyama, just Kamiyama." He said and extended his hand. Catalouging him didn’t take much time. He had a similar build to Sasagawa-sempai, but a much calmer demeanour. I shook his and felt a little dizzy when he flashed a smile at me. I wasn’t concerned about this guy being a threat, you couldn’t threaten me with a good time. 

"Hikawa, Tsuna." I replied shyly. He let go of my hand and took a step back.

"We'll, see you at practice tomorrow, Hikawa-san. We meet here right after school and practice starts fifteen minutes after the last bell. Try not to be late. Let's go guys, we better hand out some flyers too. See ya." He said with a short wave as he walked off, the other members following him and offering their own goodbyes. I was focused on one detail in my half-dazed state; he smelled like Ginger… I blushed as I shook myself. This was not the time to be thinking about strangers with dark eyes and well-defined abs! I quickly made my way out of the gym, intent on getting my stuff and going home before anything else strange could happen. This was only the first day of school. What else did this year have in store? 

I was super distracted as I walked down the halls at a brisk pace. My mind was furiously not thinking about Kamiyama-san, or his large chest, so I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. By the time I caught the scent of cherry blossoms, and registered why that was a bad thing, it was already too late. I had rounded the corner and crashed into none other that Namimori's resident demon. The disciplinary comity captain, Hibari-sempai. Ah… I really want to cry. 

My bag fell from my grasp as I dropped to the ground. I sat, half sprawled, on the floor with my arms supporting my torso. I stared, wide eyed, at the angry student in front of me. Naturally, I started cataloguing him and almost immediately regretted it. The first thing I noticed were the concealed weapons holstered inside his sleeves. I'd seen those tonfas in action earlier. I didn't know if Hibari-sempai had names for them, but neither of them were named Mercy. Hibari-sempai was wicked fast for a human, and I haven’t had a chance to see him at full speed. Too fast for me to escape right now, he was too close. Which meant I would have to fight, or take the hits, and his hits looked like they hurt. He looked thin, but there was no mistaking the strength behind his strikes when he fought Sasagawa-sempai that morning. Not to mention running into him felt like running into a brick wall. He was practiced too, all of his strikes were accurate and precise. He knew exactly where to hit to produce maximum damage. It was hard to believe this guy was the same age as the rest of the school. He was on an entirely different level.

Analyzing his physique in person only further confirmed all of the assumptions I had made about him during his fight in the morning. The first thing I noticed was his proportions. Arms, legs, torso, shoulders; all perfectly proportioned for optimal speed and accuracy. The solid muscled lining those long limbs were a testament to his strength. What surprised me the most was the fact that his arm muscles were not the bulkiest part of his body despite his obvious preference for tonfas, his muscle mass was evenly distributed. His body was a fine tuned fighting machine, he'd been training a long time for one thing and one thing only; combat.

The brain controlling that weapon of a body was no hell either. The combination of obviously violent tendencies, lack of basic social skills, and confidence that could only come from being on the top of the food chain made for a dangerous psychological cocktail. It might be shear luck that this individual was hell bent on keeping order and not the other way around, or this town would be a very different place.

However, it was his eyes that made my heart stutter in my chest. Oval pupils were surrounded by cold steal grey. Their shape became even more pronounced as they contracted. Humans didn't have those eyes; vampires did. 

I was quickly forced to re-evaluate all of my assumptions about Hibari-sempai. If he was a vampire then not only was he lethal to humans, he was lethal to me. Faster, stronger, smarter, and vicious. Mama was always so careful about the towns she chose. I’d only met two other vampires but never alone, and both were happy to stay out of our way as long as we stayed out of theirs. To put it lightly, I was terrified.

Clearly, I'd been staring for a couple of seconds more than I should have been, and that spicy scent of annoyance was making a slow appearance in the air.

"Hie! Hi-Hi-Hibari-sempai!" I stuttered out. He crossed his arms and took a threatening step towards me, I gulped.

"Herbivore" he hissed out, low and smooth.

"Sorry, so so sorry…" I repeated, body tense as if prepared to run but also frozen solid by the cold look in his eyes.

"I've been looking for you all day. You are quite the difficult bunny to find, but I've found you now." He said as he slipped out his tonfas. "For disrupting the peace on the first day of school, prepare to be bitten to death." He growled. My mind started short circuiting as his tonfa advanced towards me. So this was it, he was going to kill me. If I fought I would lose and if I ran… well running was pointless too. I was stuck between a metal tonfa and the school floor with nowhere to go. In a last-ditch effort to avoid being killed I did something that I am not proud of. I rolled over… and I played dead.

In my defence, my mind has always been geared towards blending in a surviving. Momma and I have been on the run from the church for as long as I can remember. All unaffiliated vampires are. So, with barely a thought, I stilled my heart and exhaled for the last time. Perhaps, in hindsight this was taking it a little too far, but it had the desired effect; Hibari-sempai paused. With my eyes closed and breath still I couldn't gauge his reaction through sight or scent, but I did hear him stop moving. One second, two seconds, three seconds…

"Herbivore, what the hell do you think you are doing?" he said. When I failed to respond he gave me a swift kick to the side. The force of the kick and the pain that blossomed made me want to grunt and whimper, but I was in full on survival mode so I persevered. I could last like this for days if I really allowed my body to start shutting down, slowing metabolic processes. My heart would only need to beat once every few hours. I'd just hover around death's door until the danger had passed. Except, Hibari sempai probably knew exactly what I was doing. I was so dead.

I half expected Hibari-sempai to call me out, and just start beating me up, but after a few more 'motivational' kicks he stopped. I was surprised when the perfect bent down and pressed his fingers to the side of my neck and cursed quietly. I heard him back up and drop his tonfas, the metal clattering loudly against the ground. Cellphone keys were clicked in rapid succession as he muttered something about rabbits being scared to death. The person on the other line picked up after the first ring.

"Kyoy-" the voice said but Hibari-sempai cut him off.

"Make sure the shitty nurse is in the fucking infirmary, we have a situation. Some herbivore just rolled over and died." He said sharply.

"Died!? Kyo-san, what happened!?" replied the voice. Oh. My. Dracula. This guy had no idea that I was a vampire too. He was distracted, this was my only chance! I jumped up and I took off at a mad dash toward the school doors. Breathing heavily through my nose I found that the air smelled of salt and cherry blossoms. He was either afraid I was dead or startled that I had just jumped up. Unsurprising really, and it gave me a thrill of accomplishment. That was overshadowed when the scent of citrus and musk accompanied the quiet exclamation of "Wao" as I ran out the doors. 

My chest hurt as my heart returned to it's normal pace but the slight discomfort was worth it as I escaped the brunt of Hibari-sempai's wrath. The euphoria quickly ran out as I excited the school grounds, finally, as I came to terms with what had just taken place. If mom found out that I had used my abilities at school, Hibari-sempai would be the least of my worries. I was nearly half-way home before I was convinced that Hibari-sempai wouldn't try to catch up to me. I slowed to a walk.

It was official. This town was fucking crazy. I thought back on how mama had lived here for ten years and wondered how she had managed it. Maybe the adults in this town weren't quite as quirky as the children. Everyone I had met today seemed to have very strong personality traits, a lot of them violent. So far only Yamamoto-san and Sasagawa-san seemed normal. Though, I guess I had no room to judge any of the other students here. I was by far the strangest kid in the school. Except, perhaps Hibari-sempai. 

My mind wandered back to the silver eyed demon perfect. I definitely hadn't been mistaken about Hibari-san's heritage, but he should have known that I was playing dead. He seemed genuinely confused by what I’d done. Didn’t all vampires know how to do that? Was he even a vampire? No, his eyes were a dead giveaway. Maybe he was a half-blood like me. And that catch phrase! 'I'll bite you to death'! Who said that!? I'd have to talk to Mamma about him later. I blushed as I thought back on how his scent had changed as I left. There was no way I had gotten that right. Musk could be a couple of things really, like interest… or arousal. My face turned red as I thought it. There was no way, there was just no way. If anything, he was interested in my ability to play dead. Still, one thought led to another and I couldn't help but wonder what his blood would taste like if I bit him.

I slapped my burning cheeks as I kept walking home. I shouldn't be thinking about this. I was still a little young to go hunting on my own. Mamma had given me the talk when my fangs first grew in. Feeding was a rather… intimate experience for vampires and their prey. It was so embarrassing! Why did evolution have to be so… so… ugh!? I shook myself and willed my blush to fade at last. Look at me, getting all worked up over the scariest person I had ever met.

Maybe I should get Mamma to bring me home a blood bag though. It had been a long time since I had drunk any, and my throat was constantly burning at school. Chocolate could only do so much. I needed a way to feed myself when things got bad. Mind made up I continued home to finish my homework early. I was going to ask mama about signing up for hunting lessons. There was one problem with that plan, however.

I had left my bag on the floor in the school hallway.

My face scrunched up in wide eyed terror and stress. How could I have forgotten my bag in the school!? Now I had to go home without it and get murdered by my mother, or I had to go back to school to retrieve it and get murdered by Hibari-sempai. Either way my life was forfeit! No wonder Hibari-sempai hadn't chased me out of the school! He knew I was going to have to come back!

I bent over and placed my hands on my thighs as I panted, anxiety taking over. How the hell could I have let this happen? It was official, this was the worst day of my life. I had hoped to fly under the radar, but it looked like that just wasn't going to happen. 

"Yo, Tsuna-san! You still haven't made it home yet?" came a voice from behind me. I turned around and saw Yamamoto-san walking towards me smiling and waving. I couldn't help it, my eyes started watering and my bottom lip quivered as I looked up at him. "Huh… Tsuna? Wha-what? What happened? OI! Hey, don't cry!?" he exclaimed.


	6. Eyes on me

Chapter 6: Eyes on me  
Yamamoto-san walked with me until we found a bench to sit on. He insisted I tell him what had happened. I told him I had upset Hibari-sempai and caused a scene. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole story either. What choice did I have though? How could I tell him what really happened without giving something away? This wasn’t something Yamamoto-san could help me with anyways, it was far to dangerous. If Yamamoto-san found out Hibari-sempai’s secret, and mine, there was no telling what the senior would do.

“Thanks for talking to me, Yamamoto-san, but don’t you have to be at the sushi shop? I thought you were helping out your dad this evening?” I asked. 

“I was on my way home when I saw you, but it’s no big deal. Dad will understand. I can come with you to get your bag, if you like?” he offered. I shook my head. 

“No, it’s fine. I can go myself. I don’t want to hold you up any longer. Besides, I think I need to talk to Hibari-sempai. I’ll still see you later though?” I asked. 

“You bet! I should be free around seven. I’ll come and get you when I’m done!” he said. “Are you sure you are alright now?” he asked, his concern clear. I smiled at him, he really was a kind person.

“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you again.” I said. I stood off and dusted off my pants. “I better get going. I’ll see you later.” I said with a little wave as I walked away, possibly to my death. I had to talk with Hibari-sempai, but this time I would be prepared. We had to come to some kind of understanding. I didn’t want to encroach on his territory, or whatever his problem with me was, but I wasn’t going anywhere either. Mama and I had just moved into town. It would be at least a year before we left, but hopefully longer. 

There was still that little voice in the back of my head, telling me that Hibari-sempai wasn’t as aware as I thought he was. He might not know that I am a vampire at all. Maybe he wasn’t what he appeared to be either. There were too many unknowns hanging in the air that I needed to clear up. It wasn’t safe for me at this school until I knew exactly where we both stood. 

Walking back to the school seemed to take a lot less time than leaving it had. Even though it only felt like minutes had passed the sun was lower in the sky when I arrived. What were the odds that he would even be here still? I had to try though; this was too important to leave until tomorrow. I also really needed my bookbag back. If I lost my homework on the first day of school the consequences would be dire. 

I walked through the school gates and made my way to the reception room. If Hibari-sempai was still here, that is where I would find him. I felt conflicted as I walked down the halls. I didn't know what was going to happen and it scared me. I could just scent the air and see if he is still in the school… but the part of me that was scared of this encounter was worried that he would be there. So, I waited until I was outside of the door. I didn't have to take much a of a breath in before his scent hit my nose. In fact, he was so close he might as well have been standing right in front of me! I shouldn't have been surprised when the door slid open and a firm hand pulled me into the room, but I still yelped.

The door was closed with a decisive snick and I was left staring into the oval eyes of a very pensive Hibari, Kyoya. Stiff with shock and anxiety, I decided to let him make the first move. Slowly he backed away from me but kept his eyes on me as he stalked around the room. He sat down in the plush chair located behind an office desk. My bag was resting innocently on its surface. He motioned to it.

"You came for this, didn't you?" he said. I slowly nodded my head. He narrowed his eyes at me when I didn't move. "Then retrieve it." He said. Voice even, eyes calculating, even his scent didn't fluctuate. He put me on edge. So much for this meeting being on my terms. A little reluctant, I walked towards the desk. I kept my eyes on him as I reached for the bag. He waited until I had grabbed onto it before capturing my wrist for himself.

He pulled me down so that my face was level with his own and I gasped at the rough treatment, bracing myself with my other hand. He was staring at my face, eyes moving back and forth before settling on my own. He smirked, and I stopped breathing out of fear.

"L-let go." I mumbled. Instead of releasing me he tugged me down further.

"What are you?" he asked, and my mind froze as my eyes widened.

He really didn’t know, but he was clearly starting to figure it out! I pulled my wrist out of his grasp, needing space.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I spat out. Hibari-sempai was smiling now, rubbing at the hand I had just pulled away from.

"Do you think I am an ignorant man, Herbivore? I am well aware of my own heritage, and we have the same eyes." He all but hissed. I took a step back.

"N-no." I said. "You're wrong. My… My eyes are brown." I said weakly, struggling to find something to say. Some lie to get me out of this situation. I wasn't supposed to be found out. Not like this, not by someone like him, not on the first day of school!

"Not always. Today, in the hallway and just now, they were amber. You slipped up, little omnivore. You know as well as I do that I'm not just talking about colours. I'm talking about your pupils. Did you think I wouldn't notice?" He said. My throat felt like it was closing, and my hand gripped my hair as I stared at the floor.

"No.. no." I repeated. Not sure what to say. He said he knew about his heritage, and that he recognized the same thing in me, but what did that mean exactly? Did that mean I was right, was he a vampire? Or was he something in between, like me? How could this have happened? What would I tell my mother? Suddenly, he was in front of me, tilting my head up and forcing me to look at him.

"They changed colour again. Is it fear?" He said, voice steady. His eyes narrowed again, curiosity mixing through his scent. "When is the last time you fed?" he asked. I gaped at him.

"Eh -EEEHH?" I screeched, I was so surprised that he had asked me about that, that I almost forgot to be afraid of him. He flinched back a little and scowled. The hold he had on my chin tightened too.

"Never make that noise around me again." He said. All I could do was nod dumbly. He let go and walked away from me again, the odd atmosphere from before now broken. I looked at him in confusion as he started sorting papers on his desk.

"You… you won't kill me?" I asked in a small voice. He glanced over at me.

"Are you a danger to the students?" he asked. I waved my hands out in front of me.

"No, no, no, no! Absolutely not!" I exclaimed. To be honest, he looked a little disappointed but nodded his head.

"Then no, I won't kill you…" he said, but seemed to think better of it, "on two conditions." He added. I swallowed and nodded my head. He could really be asking anything of me here, but what choice did I have? I hadn’t learned compulsion yet, so I couldn’t force him to forget this. It was really hard to compel other vampires anyways. I could ask mama to try, compulsion was my mother's specialty, but I really didn't want to tell her about this. I was desperate so I agreed.

"O-okay. What conditions?" I asked.

"First, you will report here to me once a week after school, on Fridays. You will complete any tasks I assign you. Second, you will answer all of my questions. Is that clear, omnivore?" he said. I nodded my head rapidly.

"Hai H-Hibari-sempai!" I said and bowed low. I could smell his amusement.

"Fine. Then take your bag and leave. On Friday, do not be late." He said. I quickly complied and hurried out of the room, school bag in tow. When I had originally decided to seek out Hibari-sempai, it was so I could ask him my own questions and set boundaries. I hadn’t managed to accomplish any of that, but I had managed to leave with my bookbag and my life, so I counted it as a win. 

It was nearly six I got home and Momma was not impressed. She was standing in the kitchen waiting for me to walk in.

"Tsunayoshi, where have you been all this time?" she asked with her arms crossed. I ducked my head.

"At the school." I told her as I took off my shoes. Lucky for me, it was the truth. Vampires could smell a lie.

"Eh? Really…? Why so late?" she asked.

"Well, after class I ended up touring some of the clubs. I, err, made a friend in the boxing club? He asked me to go to tryouts tomorrow. I ended up staying around the gym for a bit and talking with the rest of the boxing club." I said I looked up at her. Her face and posture had done a full one-eighty.

"A new friend in the boxing club, that's great Tsu-chan! I'm so glad you are branching out! I don't know if joining a club is a good idea if they are going to keep you out this late on the first day… how late do practices usually go?" she asked. I scratched my head.

"Actually, I don't know. I wasn't there that long. What happened was I forgot my bag and had to go back and get it." I said. Mom sighed.

"Oh Tsu-chan… That isn't very responsible you know?" she said.

"I know, I'm sorry." I replied.

"Well, no harm no foul I suppose. Do you want some supper?" she asked me, graciously changing the topic. I nodded and headed to the kitchen to help her.

In the end I didn't tell her about Hibari-sempai… I was becoming quite the liar. Lies of omission were still lies. Part of me just didn't want to worry or disappoint her, but the other part wanted to keep quiet for selfish reasons. I don’t know why, but I didn't want her to make Hibari-sempai forget. As terrified of him as I was at the beginning of the day, and as scared of him as I still was, it felt good to know someone else that was like me. Maybe he could understand what it was like.

He said that he had questions for me too, and I was looking forward to hearing them. I had questions for him too. This was the first time I had ever found someone I could make a real connection with, in regard to my vampiric nature. He promised not to kill me either, which had been a legitimate concern. I have always been a better empath than Mama too, and I couldn't detect any deceit in his scent. I guess I was just hoping I could trust him. Mama would never approve though.

Speaking of which…

"Mama, when are you going to teach me how to hunt?" I asked. She dropped her spatula.

"Eh… EEEHHHH!?" she screeched.


	7. Bats and the Bees

Mama was avoiding me.

I sighed as I dropped my head onto my desk. Last night I had asked her about hunting lessons, and she was not on board with it. After stuttering for a full minute, she told me quite firmly that if I was hungry, I was to ask her for blood, and she would bring it home from work. After that she "went for a walk" and I hadn't been able to catch her since. It was starting to become a real issue for me too. I was starting to struggle with the thirst yesterday, and chocolate just wasn’t cutting it today. It was causing me to feel spacey and tired. I couldn’t focus very well. I was irritable and moody, too. So many little things were bothering me today. For example, a girl two seats down was wearing melon deodorant, but her it clashed with her natural scent of grapes. Normally I wouldn’t have cared, but today I was hyper focused on it and I wanted to tell her to wash it off and put on something milder. What was wrong with unscented deodorant? The teachers had noticed my inattentiveness in class, and were being extra abrasive with me. Even Yamamoto's constant cheer was draining me of energy. 

I still had to go to the boxing tryouts after school, too. I sighed again, louder this time. A large part of me wanted to just skip the tryouts and apologise later, but I had made a promise to Onii-san and I didn't want to break it. Kamiyama-san might have had something to do with it too.

"Che, what happened to you dame-tsuna? Only the second day of school and you already can't hack it?" I heard from behind me. Irritation shot through me at the grating voice of Asano-san. Looks like he wasn't going to cut me any slack today. I decided to just ignore him, class would be starting soon enough. "Oi, are you deaf as well as dumb now? I'm talking to you." He said while poking me with a pencil. Realizing he wasn't going to let it go I sluggishly sat up and turned my face towards him.

"What is it Asano-san?" I asked. He took one look at me and scrunched up his face.

"You look like shit. You sick or something? Go to the nurse's office and lie down instead of spreading it to the rest of the class." He said. I frowned, but otherwise didn't react.

"I'm not sick. Just, just tired." I said. I wanted to be done with this conversation.

"Yeah? Well if you stay in Nezu-sensei's class like this, he's going to tear you apart. I'd leave if I were you, but then again I might enjoy the show, so feel free to stay." He said and leaned back in his desk. I turned my head back towards the front and started down at my hands… Asano-san did have a point. Just the thought of dealing with Nezu-sensei made me want to cry. The nurse's office would probably smell awful, but I could probably catch a nap. I nodded my head once and started gathering up my stuff. I turned to Asano-san as I stood up.

"U-uhm… Thank you." I said, a little uncomfortably. Asano-san stared at me for a second and then shrugged his shoulders.

"Tch. Whatever." He said.

"Don't let Nezu-sensei catch you." Said Furukawa-san. I startled at his voice and looked over to see him standing by Yamamoto-san. I hadn't even noticed them, I must be worse off than I thought.

"Do you want me to walk you down there, Tsuna-san?" asked Yamamoto. I shook my head, I didn't want to make him late for class.

"No, no. I'll be okay. I better go… thanks guys." I said.

"Aha, feel better Tsuna-san." Said Yamamoto as I departed. I took Asano-san and Furukawa-san's advice to heart as I walked down the halls and did my best to keep my eyes and nose peeled for Nezu-sensei after the bell rang. I only had to duck and hide once to get away from him, then I was in the clear. When I finally reached my destination, I slid open the door with a polite ‘excuse me’ and walked into the room. I came face to face with Hibari-sempai holding two limp bodies by the wrists. He narrowed his eyes at me.

"Omnivore." He said. I gulped. I never should have let my guard down, tired or not.

"H-hello." I said. An eternity later he turned away from me and proceeded to deposit the two students (corpses?) onto a bed by pulling them off the ground behind his back and flipping them up over his head like freaking sacks of flour. Dear god. He walked over to a nearby stool and sat himself down, apparently he was staying. I cautiously moved further into the room towards an open bed. "U-uhm… is the nurse in?" I asked. He glared at me again. "O-oh… I guess not then? I'll just claim this bed then…" I said and sat down.

"Why?" he asked.

"Eh? Why?" I repeated.

"You can't get sick." he said. Oh…

"W-well not really, not in a traditional sense. I'm half – human, so some things make me feel ill, but I can't er… catch a cold or something like that… I'm just tried." I said.

"Pathetic." He spat at me. My spine stiffened. Oh. So he was one of those vampires. I turned away from him an glared down at the bed. He stood up and walked towards me. I watched him out of the side of my eye, not in the mood to deal with any racist bs. I expected him to make some derogatory comment about dirty blood, but "Are you a herbivore after all? If you're hungry; hunt." Was what he said. I turned around to face him again, eyes wide with both surprise and relief. What the heck? Also, WHAT THE HECK? That was so inappropriate!

"You! You can’t just say… that!” I said, scooting back farther into the bed. “Even if I wanted to I couldn’t. I promised Momma I wouldn't." I said, a calmer now. I didn't want to deal with this right now. I just wanted to sleep.

"She is… an omnivore too?" he said. I nodded my head.

"I guess? She's a pure blood, so maybe a … er…. carnivore?" I said. Hibari-sempai inclined his head.

"Then don't hunt." He said while gesturing to the two passed out students on the near by bed. I looked at him in horror and waved my hands out in front of me.

"No, no, no, no! I can't do that! They are passed out, I can't just take advantage of them!" I said. Besides, weren't they missing enough blood already?

"It's food." He said bluntly. I gapped at him. How could he just expect me to bite someone who didn't even consent…. What kind of vampire was he? Did he just feed on people willy nilly!? Wait… what kind of vampire was he?

“Hibari-sempai, this is a little i-inapropriate, but have you ever, um, have you ever fed on someone before?” I asked, I could feel the blush staining my ears red. I couldn’t believe I had just asked that. Mama would cuff my ears if she were here! Yet, Hibari-sempai didn’t react beyond narrowing his eyes. As the silence stretched on I began to wonder if the answer to my question was no. Maybe he didn't know that hunting and feeding wasn't just… eating.

"Uhm… Hibari-sempai. What do you know about feeding?" I asked slowly. He crossed his arms.

"Biting and blood." He said. His scent was annoyed but confident, and impatient. Suddenly I could see why he was so insistent about this, he just wanted to watch a me 'bite someone to death'. 

"I see… I don't need to feed right now, Hibari-sempai. I just need to sleep for a bit…" I trailed off, hoping he would let it drop. It was too much to ask for, of course.

"I know you are hungry, lying herbivore. Explain." He said. I swallowed, was I really going to have to give Hibari-sempai 'the talk'? This definitely classified as too much information. I'd only known him for a day. I warred with myself for a bit but thinking back to the promise I made in exchange for keeping my life I nodded my head.

"Okay… u-uhm feeding isn't just biting and blood. It's uhm…. It's biting, blood, and…. physical contact?" I tried. He narrowed his eyes.

"You must hold down live prey a certain way?" he said. My shoulders drooped, he wasn't getting it. Why did this feel like corrupting a child?

"Not.. exactly. Okay, I'll just go ahead and say it. F-feeding involves biting, blood, and… and sex." I said, sounding as embarrassed as I felt. Hibari-sempai gave no outwards reaction as he digested this new information, he simply pasued, turned, and left the room. Blood flooded my face as I flopped back onto the bed and covered my eyes with my hands. Okay, now would be a really great time to suddenly die. Hibari-sempai said he not ignorant to his heritage, but his parents clearly hadn't taught him everything. In fact, I was starting to think he wasn’t a vampire at all, and maybe not even a Dhampir! Who didn’t know this kind of stuff by the time they were our age!? If the blood what diluted enough then Hibari-sempai was considered a human, and I had just really stuck my foot in it. Please god… don’t let this come back to bite me. 

I flopped down into the bed and pulled the blankets over my head. Now I had even more questions about Hibari-sempai, but I would never be able to look him in the eye and ask them! I was dreading Friday more and more. 

OMAKE 

I don’t consider this part of the story, personally.

Biting to Death for Dummies

Kyoya furiously strode towards his father's study and slid the door out of the way. He pointed a tonfa at his startled father who was trying to brush away the hot tea he had just spilled in his lap.

"Wha- Kyoya? What are you doing?" he exclaimed.

"You lied to me when you taught me how to hunt. Why?" he said.

"What are you talking about?" said his father.

"You told me that vampires hunt down their prey and bite them to death."

"Err… well, I wouldn't go so far as to say to death but yessss….. whyyyy?" he replied.

"Hunting requires biting, blood, and sex." Stated Kyoya. His father choked.

"Excuse me!? How did you even? Who told you that!?" he exclaimed, truly alarmed. Kyoya lowered his tonfa and narrowed his eyes.

"It is true then?" he asked. His father's face looked ashen. "All these years, I've been doing it wrong." He muttered to himself. He must rectify his mistakes at once.

"Son… perhaps this is something your mother should explain to you." His father said. Kyoya didn't reply, and instead turned to leave the room. "Wait, where are you going?" his father called.

"To bite someone to death, properly." He replied. His father scrambled out of his chair.

"WAIT! No, Kyoya! KYOYA NOOOOO!" he yelled, but it was too late; his son was gone. "Dear god…. What have I done?" he whispered in horror.

Namimori never saw him coming…. In a manner of speaking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I am in the middle on an online final exam (thanks a lot covid) and I have had 2 major panic attacks (also thank you covid for making that worse). I might need to take a year off. For real. Yikes. For now, I needed a break from writing this awful exam so here is the next chapter. 
> 
> Both of my parents caught covid 19, so i'm at home helping them out, which means i probably have it too. I will either be taking a serious break from writing for a couple weeks or maybe it will mean i lay in bed and write a lot more. I guess we will see. 
> 
> Hope you all stay safe and healthy.


	8. Puppy Love

I managed to fall asleep shortly after Hibari-sempai left despite my embarrassment. I stayed that way for half an hour until the nurse came back and woke me up. I must have looked rough because she excused me from the rest of class before sending me on my way at lunch with stern instructions to eat something healthy. I was grateful she had let me stay that long, but I wouldn't have minded sleeping through lunch too.

I thought about eating the bento I had packed, but I didn't think my stomach could handle real food at the moment. Instead, I wondered back to the classroom to see if I could find Yamamoto-san. When I got to the classroom though there were very few people still in the room, and Yamamoto-san wasn't one of them. The only two people I recognized by name were Sasagawa-san and Kurokawa-san. I wanted to go over and try talking to Sasagawa-san, but I didn't have the energy to deal with a confrontational Kurokawa-san if I annoyed her; beautiful roses, sharp thorns and all that. Sometimes it was better to be safe than sorry when dealing with women.

I wandered over to my desk and plopped down in my chair. I lazily let my bag fall to the floor. I was wiped. I had hoped that napping would help wake me up, but now it felt like I had a sleep hangover.

I rested my head on my desk as I leaned over to fish a bar of dark chocolate out from my bag. I slowly peeled back the wrapper and popped a chunk into my mouth. I relaxed as I felt the chocolate melting slowly in my mouth, the bitter-sweet flavour taking the edge off the thirst. It wasn't doing a lot to make me feel better, but I could think a little clearer and my throat didn’t burn. My stomach clenched in protest though. A wave of nausea rolled through me. I hoped mama would bring a blood bag home from the hospital today. Maybe some B positive would cheer me up.

I tried dozing off again at my desk, but the scents and sounds of the few students who were in the classroom made it difficult, so I started listening to their conversations instead.

"Hey, isn't that the new kid? He missed a class today." Said one student.

"Yeah, I saw him get up and leave. You think he's sick already?" said another.

"On the second day of school? Talk about unlucky. Maybe he really is a dame?" said another.

"Shh! Hahaha, he'll hear you!" whispered the first one. I stopped listening to them and turned my attention to the other side of the room, where Sasagawa-san was talking.

"… need to return a couple books soon. I nearly forgot last time until the day they were due!" she said.

"Ah, yeah. Late fees suck, and then the librarians look at you all disappointed like." Kurokawa-san said with a sigh.

"Haha! You sound like you are speaking from experience Hana-chan." Laughed Sasagawa-san. I chuckled quietly to myself too. This was a much more pleasant conversation to listen to.

"Depends on who is asking. Oh, look. The new monkey has fallen asleep." Said Kurokawa-san.

"Hmm? Oh, you mean Hikawa-san? He must be very tired…" said Sasagawa-san. I could feel my ears start to burn. Ugh, please don’t pay me any mind!

"He left before Math class too." Said Kurokawa-san.

"Oh my, do you think he's okay? Starting a new school must be pretty stressful." said Sasagawa-san.

"Beats me. He seems to get on with a few of the guys in this class, can't be too bad. Doesn't he hang around with Yamamoto-san?" said Kurokawa-san.

"I don't know, Hana-chan. Maybe I'll go see how he is. I don't really want to wake him up, but it won't be good if he sleeps through lunch. Look, his ears even look red, maybe he does have a fever?" said Sasagawa-san. I could feel my face heating up more than ever after she pointed out how red my ears were. This is so embarrassing! What am I going to do if she comes over here!?

"You really are too kind, Kyoko-chan. It's his own fault if he doesn't eat." She said. Oh god, here she comes! What do I do? Just… just play it cool Tsuna. There is nothing scary about a girl… even if she is pretty.

"Excuse me, Hikawa-san? Are you sleeping?" said Sasagawa-san, I startled at her feminine voice despite already knowing that she was standing right beside me. I really needed to stop getting so worked up. I took a deep breath in through my nose before raising my head.

"Hello, Sa-sasagawa-san. N-n-n-no, I'm awake." I replied. Sasagawa-san tilted her head to the side and smiled.

"Oh, that's good! Are you feeling okay, Hikawa-san? I noticed that you missed a class today! Did you go to the nurses?" she asked. I nodded my head.

"A-ah, great! Good. I am! Ahhh…. That is, I'm okay…. Thank you…" I replied, face burning. Come on tongue, stop tripping! Sasagawa-san frowned a little.

"Are you sure? Your face is awfully red. If you need to go home, I'm sure someone could bring you your homework." She said. I ducked my head.

"Ah no, no, no! I'm fine really!" I denied, waving my hands. "I just needed some rest! Besides I told your brother that I would go meet up with the boxing club today…. Although I'm not really sure how that happened." I replied, muttering the last part to myself.

"Is that so!" she exclaimed with a bright smile, "Onii-san was talking about try-outs all evening yesterday! He said they managed to find more recruits than usual this year, I didn't know you were one of them!" she said.

"O-oh! That's… that's good. I'm not really a recruit though, it's only on a trial basis." I replied. I only agreed because I felt bad! … Kamiyama-san not withstanding. I thought to myself.

"I see, well I hope you like it! I'm sure it would mean a lot to my Onii-san. Boxing is his life. You should really eat something if you are going to exercise later, Onii-san says fueling your body with the right nutrients is important! Don't you agree, Hikawa-san?" she asked. The sound of rushing blood was loud in my ears as I thought about exactly what kind of nutrients my body needed right now. I swallowed thickly as I nodded my head, my throat was burning with a vengeance.

"Yeah… very important." I agreed, feeling a little dizzy. Sasagawa-san smelled like vanilla. 

I mentally slapped myself. Quit that!

"Well, I'll leave you to your lunch then. You should come over and talk to us sometime, Hikawa-san! Everyone is very curious about you. We don't see new faces around here very often." She said. I nodded my head and exchanged polite farewells. I watched her for a moment as she returned to her group of friends. It was official, she was by far the sweetest girl I had ever met. I turned my head back to my own desk and broke off another piece of chocolate. Two days into my new school and I was already crushing on two different people. This was going to be a very long day…

This was going to be a very long year.

The day was very long indeed, and by the time the end of it rolled around I had been reprimanded twice for not paying attention and produced a collection of mostly incomplete notes with unidentifiable scribbles in the columns. I may as well have listened to Sasagawa-san and gone home for the rest of the day, these notes were useless. On the bright side I was feeling a little better by the end of classes than I was earlier that morning. The combination of rest and chocolate had helped clear my foggy brain and boost my mood. I wasn't exactly looking forward to meeting with the boxing club now, but I wasn't dreading it either.

Yamamoto-san also had a club meeting after school and offered to walk with me down to the gym. I was grateful for his consistent happy chatter and relaxing scent, instead of annoyed, as we navigated the busy school halls. I would have bumped into a lot of people if I didn't have him there parting the crowd and leading the way. We parted ways when we got to the gym though, he had to change into his uniform and meet up with his teams. I wondered if I should have changed into my gym uniform too, but I wasn't really planning to participate today. I hoped Onii-san wouldn't be too put out that I wasn't feeling up to any EXTREME exercise.

"Yo! Little dude, I'm extremely glad you made it!" Shouted a voice across the gym. I spotted Onii-san in bright yellow shorts waving me down. I made my way over to the enthusiastic sempai and smiled in return. He really was a friendly guy, even if he was a little extreme. Several members of the boxing club had already joined him and were busy laying down mats or wrapping their hands in tape. I spied Kamiyama-san among them and couldn't help the heat that rose to me cheeks. He really was too handsome.

"Hello, Onii-san." I said in greeting, he beamed and patted me hard on the back.

"Yosh! You're the first of the new members to arrive, but you are extremely not dressed!" he exclaimed. I nodded me head and bowed it in apology.

"Ahh… to be honest I'm not feeling very well today. I'm very sorry." I said.

"Hmm, you are looking a little pale." Said Kamiyama-san. I looked up at the unexpected reply, I didn't think he would come over here to greet me. "That's too bad. I was looking forward to seeing what you can do." He said. I flushed a little at his words, a little regretful that I had decided not to participate.

"That's true!" Exclaimed Onii-san. "But it is extremely important that you take care of your body too! Don't feel bad if you can't practice some punches with us today, Little Dude! At least stick around and watch though!" he said, surprisingly defending my decision not to join in. I blinked up at him.

"O-of course!" I quickly agreed. Kamiyama-san shrugged one shoulder and agreed.

"In that case, you can act as our cornerman today. Just hand us water and a towel in-between spars while we practice. Make sure you pay attention to the techniques we show the new guys today! Having proper form is important." Said Kamiyama-san.

"That's an EXTREMELY good idea Kamiyama! Yosh! Look, more of the new guys are showing up. Let's get everyone one together and do some introductions!" Onii-san enthused. I had to admit that playing corner man appealed to me a lot more than boxing did. Maybe I could make it a regular thing?

It turned out that being corner man was even better than I expected. I got to sit up close to the ring and watch as two sweaty men tried to gain the upper hand against each other during friendly spars, and when they needed water or a towel I was right there to hand it to them and offer words of encouragement. Near the end of class Onii-san got the bright idea to show the new recruits how "real men" fight, which resulted in Kamiyama-san and Onii-san stepping into the ring together.

The two men sized each other up. Kamiyama-san was a little bit taller, but Onii-san was heavier. When they were sparring you could tell they had fought each other before. Their movements were fluid and fast. They hit each other a lot harder than they had hit anyone else during practice. They knew the other's limits and pushed them. I was transfixed.

When the round finished Kamiyama-san collapsed into the chair placed in my corner of the ring. He was sweating and panting heavily.

"Hey, corner man." He called. "Bring me some water." He said. I quickly scrambled over with his water bottle and passed it to him. He sprayed water into his mouth and took a deep breath after swallowing. Sweat was dripping down his forehead, and standing this close to him his scent was the only thing I could focus on. Ginger and sage played across my senses. "Here," he said reaching over and grabbing the towel that was hanging over one of the ropes. He held it out to me. "Towel me off." He said. I couldn’t help the thrill of excitement that shot through my gut, and suddenly my throat was on fire. I hesitantly took the towel from his hand. I pressed it to his face and diligently began dabbing the sweat away. How easy would it be to just lean forward and sink my fangs into his neck right now? I’d never felt so hungry. I carefully lowered my lids to shield my eyes, I was afraid that they would change colour like Hibari-sempai said. I needed to get a hold of myself.

Then, like a bucked of cold water, Onii-san's cheerful voice washed over me and knocked me out of my shameful state.

"Yo, Little Dude! Bring me some water too! Kamiyama tired me out to the extreme!" he yelled. I abruptly handed off the towel to Kamiyama-san and hurried to bring Onii-san his water bottle. What the hell had I been thinking about doing in such a public place? Biting someone out in the open? I hadn't even learned compulsion yet! I would have had no way to wipe the memory from their minds, and there is really no way to explain something like that! I had never come so close to slipping up before, and I hated myself for almost allowing it. I may be hungry, but I needed to get my shit together. I was going to end up getting mama and I killed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I just wanted to thank everyone for their kind words on the last chapter. Yesterday was stressful. We are all just taking things one day at a time. I hope you are all doing well!


	9. Mama's Boy

I ended up leaving boxing practice early, but I promised Onii-san that I would come to the next one and give it my all. I got home a little bit before mama’s shift was finished, so I had the house to myself for a little while. Fortunately, that meant I had time to think though some things. I slipped off my shoes and made my way up to my room. I dropped my bookbag by the small table I used for homework and flopped into my bed. I was still feeling rough and craving blood so I was going to try and catch a nap until mama got home.

I owed my mother an apology. I knew she was uncomfortable with the idea of me hunting, but I pushed her anyways. If I was being honest, I was a little uncomfortable too. I hadn’t even been able to talk to Hibari-sempai about it with a straight face. What I really wanted to learn was compulsion, so I could clean up my own messes if I ever slipped up at school. That had never been a concern before, I had always felt in control of my cravings before this year. Something had changed, and I wasn’t sure if it was something within me or if it had to do with my environment. Maybe it was just the new school, or the number of students I was interacting with. Either way, I was taking risks that I shouldn’t be. If rumors ever started spreading it wouldn’t take long for the church to start sending out sentinels to scope us out. 

Sentinels were vampire hunters in training. Members of the church that had been made aware of the existence of vampires and tasked with reporting any sightings to the church. It was rare that one would try and engage a vampire, but they were still armed to the teeth with everything they needed to kill one. If a sentinel caught wind of a vampire though, a real hunter was sure to follow. Mama said that the church had been recruiting in larger numbers the past few years as well, so there were a lot of sentinels to spare. In a few more years the rookie recruits that survived would graduate and become certified hunters. Times were getting tough for unaffiliated vampires like mama and I. There were not a lot of covens out there that would consider taking on a stray vampire and her half-blood son though. So, we had no option but to stay aware and on the move. 

Once, when I was eight, mama had petitioned a small coven about allowing us to join, but the meeting hadn’t gone over well. After rejecting her request, the coven had tipped off the local convent about our existence. This kind of alliance was not uncommon amongst churches and covens. So long as the coven offered up the strays, the church would offer the coven immunity. A hunter had been on our trail the next day. Not only did we have to run and leave everything behind; that time mama had to erase our entire existence, too. It was the first time we had taken on new last names. I don’t know how mama managed to outrun the hunter and keep us alive, but I never wanted her to have to do that again. Eventually I dozed off while contemplating my life decisions throughout the day, guilt a heavy weight on my chest. I hadn’t meant for things to get so out of hand. 

The sound of the front door closing woke me up from my nap. I glanced at the clock on my nightstand, it was just after five. I rolled out of bed and made my way down the stairs. 

“Mama?” I called. She answered me from the kitchen.

“In here, Tsu-chan!” she said. I rounded the corner and frowned softly when I saw her. She looked tired, which was highly unusual for her. 

“Mama, are you okay?” I asked her. She walked over and pulled me into a hug. 

“Oh, baby. I’m sorry. I haven’t been very good to you the past couple days.” She said. I was quick to wrap my arms around her too.

“I should be apologising to you.” I said miserably. I hadn’t meant to upset her this much. 

“No. This was me over-reacting. All you did was ask a question I wasn’t ready to hear, and I didn’t handle it very well. I should have sat down with you and had a discussion.” She said, and pulled back, her hands on my shoulders. She looked over me and clicked her tongue. “Look at you, I’ve even been neglecting you. Its clearly been too long since you have had any blood. I guess we lost track of time with the move.” She said. 

“Ah, yeah. I’m pretty thirsty, but it hasn’t been that long since my last blood bag. I think its just because I’m around so many new people that I’m thirsty again already.” I said. Mama hummed non-comically and walked over to grab her bag. She pulled out her “lunch kit” and passed it to me. 

“Well, either way, I brought you home a bag of AB.” She said. I took the kit from her and pulled out the bag. It was cold, as usual, but the temperature had never really bothered me. Mama said she couldn’t stand it cold, but to each their own right?

“Thank you, mom!” I said, genuinely relived. My fangs were already elongating, so the words came out a little lisped. I unravelled the cord from around the bag and punctured it with my fangs. Whoever donated this blood had a seriously tropical vibe going on. The first time I drank after my fangs grew in, I didn’t use the straw at all. I just punctured the bag and tried to drink like that, because of course I wanted to bite something. It was a huge mistake; I ruined my favorite shirt. It was funny to try once, but I have used the straw ever since. Biting the bag just wasn’t worth the mess or the wasted food. 

“I think we should sit down and have that talk, Tsu-chan. If that is okay?” said mama. I nodded my head and sat at the table. 

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. About what I said, I don’t want to learn how to hunt. I just want to start learning compulsion.” I said. Mama frowned, but nodded her head and sat across from me.

“I see, and why do you want to start learning that now?” she asked me. I could feel my ears blushing as I tried to answer her. This was an uncomfortable conversation to be having with my mother. I wondered if it would have been easier to talk about this with my father but decided it wouldn’t have been. Especially because he was human. 

“Lately I’ve been having some trouble focusing at school. Especially when I’m hungry. I’m worried that I might show someone my fangs, or that my eyes will change colour. I just want a way to make sure the other kids will forget what they saw.” I explained, thinking back on what happened during boxing practice and with Hibari-sempai when I thought he was going to kill me. 

“Haha! I see, so my little Tsu-chan is going into puberty, huh?” she said, amused. 

“Ehh! Mom!” I screeched, absolutely mortified. 

“Uggh, my baby is growing up. I’m getting old.” Mama groaned dramatically. 

“I can’t believe you are doing this right now.” I whined. I was already embarrassed, and she was laying it on a little thick. Vampires didn’t even get old. 

“Alright, alright. I’ll be serious, and I seriously think this is a bad idea. Being able to compel people is a huge responsibility. Having that kind of control over people can feel really good but be used in very bad ways. I’m not sure if you are old enough to handle that kind of power yet. Do you understand? Besides, if you accidentally flash your fangs, people might not even notice. If they do, you just tell me straight away and I’ll sort it out.” She said. I nodded my head but couldn’t help being disappointed. Did she really not trust me?

“Okay, but how am I going to explain it if my eyes change colour?” I asked. 

“Tsu-chan, my eyes turn red when I haven’t eaten in too long, but that only happens to full bloods. Haven’t I ever told you that?” she said. I frowned and furrowed my eyebrows together in confusion. That didn’t make sense, because Hibari-sempai said my eyes did change colour. Could it have been a trick of the light? 

“Oh, I see. Maybe you did, I just forgot?” I said. 

“Hmm, do you feel less worried now?” asked mama. I nodded my head. 

“I guess so, but when will I be old enough to learn.” I asked. Mama thought it over for a bit. 

“How about when you graduate from middle school?” she offered. “We can take a little trip, and I’ll teach you over the summer holidays. Then you will be prepared before you start high school.” She said. I was quick to agree, it was likely the best offer I was going to get. I wondered if I would still be living in Namimori when that time came, or if our little trip would be a permanent one. “Okay, well, if that is all settled, then I need to take a shower and you have homework.” Said mama. She stood up from the table and ran a hand through my hair affectionately. “You’re a good kid, Tsu-chan. Try not to worry about the future so much.” She said and made her way to the bathroom. I sighed and finished off my blood bag slowly. How could I not worry? Should I have told her about Hibari-sempai? Speaking of him, I needed to talk to Hibari-sempai again. I needed to confirm that my eyes had really changed colour. One thing was really bothering me though, why orange and not red? For now, I guess the only thing I should worry about is playing catch up in Nezu-sensei’s class.


End file.
